I'm thinking of raising chickens that lay eggs

I am trying to get as much info as possible. I already know on the Internet i have to buy 25 or more chickens to start. As you will see i know nothing about chickens!

For example, how many males and females do i get?
Will chicken feed and water do?
Would a home made chicken coup do?
do they mate? Is my ignorance showing yet?
Will they hatch their own i dont want to get an incubator.
They will come with shots if i buy them* good for me.

Does anyone here raise chickens?

I live in a rural area, farming area, so this wont be a problem and besides i just want to try my hand at a few!

Anyone out there doing this?

I'm serious about this but i really dont know where to start.

I just downloaded a bunch of information on it... that's so funny... wanna chat?

I went to backyardchickens it has a forum too. Lots of really good information. You can feed chickens all kinds of stuff. they don't recommend cat food, and avocados are a no no. You will not need a rooster if you are just after eggs. But if you want meat you will.

[edit on 9-10-2008 by seagrass]

you can buy baby chickens and raise them in the house for the first 60 days or so. You need a dog crate or a cage that is large enough for how ever many chickens you want. If you want just eggs... a hen will lay one everyday to every other day.. so if you want a dozen a day, you will need about 15 chickens or so.
Homemade coops are what most people build. they need to be warm in winter so they spend most of their time in the coop during the winter months. You have to use some kind of netting or chicken wire for their run if you don't want critters to get them.

this is the website I am using.... Lots of good ideas for coops and homemade water and feed devices. Chickens are inexpensive to raise and they can actually become "pets". Especially if you raise them from the egg. If you want chicken meat, then you will need to have a rooster, but more than one rooster will fight to the death...

# ggCartons.com - Discount supplier of egg cartons, egg boxes, egg trays, poultry supplies
# Henspa.com - Maker of the "Ultimate Backyard Coop". With and without wheels
# HomeAndBarnBasics.com - Offering practical items for your house and farm including poultry supplies
# IdealPoultry.com - Breeding farms & hatchery - breeds chickens bantams & ducks
# McMurray Hatchery - The world's largest rare breed hatchery.
# MyPetChicken.com - They can supply everything you need to get started including baby chicks, chicken coops, accessories and books
# RandallBurkey.com - Traditional poultry products, animal healthcare products, and specialty items since 1947

[edit on 9-10-2008 by seagrass]

yes they mate...lol And crow in the morning... and they are great weeders if you want your yard cleaned up... and their poop is great for your garden.

Seagrass,

thank you. I will go read up on all that you have provided me- and thanks for taking me seriously. I am, i just dont know the first thing about them.

Thanks again!!!

My mom had chickens when I was growing up, but she wasn't after the eggs.. she just liked having them around the yard. She collected some nice breeds. Dogs got a few of them. She had pigeons and other things too. I had three ducks. But I didn't pay a lot of attention.
I have always liked chickens.. They are a great staple for self sufficiency and the eggs really do taste much better than store bought. We can learn together if you like.. I didn't know how to raise them either until a week ago when I started looking. My husband makes these great pickled eggs that people are always asking him to make. I am not as interested in meat right now, but my husband said he will kill them if I clean the coop.. ha ha ha

Oh i want eggs and the meat too!

I am so inspired to do this i cant begin to tell you!

Yes, we can exchange ideas and all sorts of info.

I put each of the sites you recommended under favorites so i will be looking at lots of material.

Thank you so much!!!!

Let me know how your little farm goes

We have a store called Wilco, I don't know if you have one in New England, but I am sure over there in farm land you will have a store that will help you get all the supplies and chickens you need to get started. I would look in craigslist and places like that for people getting rid of those kinds of things, and even old pumphouses and small buildings. You could even approach and old farm who arent' using their old outbuildings to see if they want to sell them. One person on that site bought an old generator building and fixed it up really nice... it's on the website I gave you....

Be there chickens which do not lay eggs?

reply to post by Lysergic

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The ones with the ovarian problems.

Just don't let your cocks fight.





It's illegal here.

male chickens do not lay eggs...

I don't know anything about raising chickens, but I want to wish you luck DG, and I mean that. I think that it's great that you want to do this. It sounds really fun.

Rush

L. It may be illegal but up north the vato's still fight their chickins on friday nite.

My neighbors have 50 chickens. 1.00 dz. yummy...

[edit on 9-10-2008 by whaaa]

I just found a whole chicken coop set up for sale on craigslist for 700. including the chickens... I emailed...we'll see if he still has it... but I could be raising chickens sooner than I thought... Winter weather isn't a good time to be looking for chickens... but....under the economic circumstances.. it would be a good source of food.

Hey Rush!!

I did a lot of research on this (joined back yard chickens) and it was so fun. We decided against it because of the price and availability of feed here, but I really wanted to do it! Good luck to you, dg! I hope you do it and post pictures and everything!

Here are a couple more sites from my bookmarks:

Keeping a Flock of Your Own
Fenced Coop/Garden
Small Scale Poultry Housing
Chicken Feed

I used to have 'yard-birds'.
If you want them to lay eggs, you have to feed them 'layena' or something that gives them the calcium and other stuff to keep laying during the colder months.
yard-birds make their own nests and it's up to you to find them. Once you do, try to always keep ONE egg in the next, it helps them keep laying. But, you have to MARK it well, so, you don't accidentally use a rotten egg, later.
They eat leftovers, too.
WE used to have roundheads, domineckers(sp), aracuanas (that lay colored eggs), a shamu(BIG chicken) and even quail and one pheasant.
You can use quail eggs just like chickens.
I LOVED my little chickens, till a panther ate them.
It would be safer if they ARE housed, but you have to keep weasels, possums and foxes from digging through.

Also, chickens need clean sand for a bath.
When we had ours in a pen, I would use a shovel to give them a sandpile for them to take a bath in.
And they also like a good 'perch'. I used to whittle tree branches and anchor them with garbage ties to the chicken wire up high, so they could perch and sleep up there.

[edit on 9-10-2008 by Clearskies]

Panthers? are you kidding? We have cougars and all kinds of varmits to watch out for too.. I would have to put chicken wire down underground about a foot.... Sand is not a problem here... I have lots of sand. And DG is on the Cape.. I'm sure there's lots of sand there too. I have friends on the Cape.. really good virtual friends.

[edit on 9-10-2008 by seagrass]